Richard, Pierce ‘steady’ at Hyannisport

Monday

HYANNISPORT — Ray Richard understands more than most that playing well at the Seagulls Fourball Championship requires a high level of resolve.

In fact, he needed that resolve even before the tournament. Last month, he slipped on a step and broke two ribs.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to play,” said Richard, who plays out of Willowbend. “I started hitting balls about two weeks ago.”

Fortunately for Richard, he had plenty of time to recover and played well enough for him and playing partner David Pierce to return to Hyannisport Club next weekend.

Richard and Pierce rallied twice during Sunday’s first round of match play, knocking off Ken Bianco and Brad Stewart, who carded the sixth-best score (1-under) in the qualifying round the day prior. Richard ended up winning the match for the pair by birdieing the 18th and winning the tiebreaker in 19 holes, sending the duo to next Saturday’s quarterfinals.

The last time Ray Richard made it to the second weekend of Seagulls in the championship flight was 2016 when he ended up winning it with Matt Parziale, who played in The Masters and U.S. Open last year.

He has played with Pierce, a former pro from the Country Club of Halifax, the past three Seagulls, and they were finalists together in last year’s first flight.

On Saturday, Pierce and Richard were 2-down through 12 holes. They evened it on the back nine, but were 1-down when Stewart birdied the 17th.

But Richard hit a gap wedge about three feet to the hole on the 18th and made birdie to even the match. He stepped to the first tee for the tiebreaker and was the only one to hit the fairway.

He then made par to close out the match.

“Sometimes you just have to put your head down at Hyannisport,” Richard said. “It was steady golf.”

Most matchups were wrapped up relatively quickly on a day that started out with sunny conditions with temperatures in the 50s. But like the qualifying round, once the sun went down, it got chilly and windy, and eventually rainy by the early afternoon.

Defending champs Jared Pane and Joe Hunt, of Hyannis Golf Course, were well off the course by then, as they won their match, 7 and 6. Hunt shot 5-under on his own ball through 12 holes, hitting his driver within eight feet of the second hole and then his second shot on the third hole was a foot to the cup.

It was a relief for the pair, which had to rally from 3-down at the turn in the first round of match play last year.

“It didn’t matter who we played today, he just played so great,” Pane said of Hunt.

Spencer and O’Rourke won, 2 and 1, over Hyannisport’s course manager Tom Colombo and Andy Drohen, the 2003 Mass. Amateur champion, and will play the defending champs in the quarterfinals.

Lepore and Clarke won the first flight last year and next will face Richard and Pierce.

Chad Crocker (Hyannis Golf Course) and Alex Stimpson (Woods Hole), a highly-touted pair, missed the tiebreaker after shooting 1-over in qualifying. However, they are highly favored to win first flight, starting Sunday by winning their match, 6 and 5. They next will play Cranberry Valley’s David Scholnick and Josh Coffey, who won by the same score Sunday.

In the second flight, David Pagnini and Scott Mcpherson needed 20 holes to advance, while John and Brian McManus overcame Bret Annese and Jack O'Connor in 24 holes to win in the fourth flight.

The third and fifth flights dealt with the worst conditions of the day, with a steady rain and temperatures in the mid-40s.

Cranberry Valley pair Tyler Kett, a two-time Cape Cod Amateur champion, and James Gorman were 3-down through five holes and struggled when the skies opened up. However, it died down a bit on the back nine, and the pair rallied to win, 3 and 2.

“We thought for sure when we looked at the forecast last night that we were in for the long haul,” Kett said, “but it wasn’t too bad.”

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.